Three competing in race for Executive Council District 3

DOVER — Republican Executive Councilor Chris Sununu is facing challenges from a retired software entrepreneur from New Castle and a Hampton Libertarian in the Nov. 6 election.

Sununu's Democratic opponent for the District 3 seat is Bill Duncan, a New Castle resident who has been outspoken in support of public education during the past year.

Libertarian candidate Michael Baldassarre is also seeking the post.

Duncan served in the armed forces before entering the world of software development. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1965, and spent time on ships and as a political warfare adviser in Vietnam. He went on to found businesses in California and Kentucky, where he started an economic development organization, and later relocated to New Hampshire with his wife and children.

Duncan said he founded the company Newmarket Software Systems with a friend and helped to grow the business into a large employer. He also founded a company called Daylight Software, which operated in locations in Durham, Dover and Portsmouth before being sold off in 2005.

During a recent meeting with the editorial board of Foster's Daily Democrat, Duncan said he would take a less partisan approach to serving on the council than Sununu.

Duncan said he doesn't believe council votes ought to be ideologically driven, and instead, the council ought to carry out legislative mandates. He said he rejects Sununu's “frame of reference,” which he characterized as a willingness to impose policy views.

Duncan founded the advocacy group Defending New Hampshire Public Education in 2011. According to Duncan, the group's aim has been to “limit the impact of the large number of anti-public education bills in the Legislature.”

Sununu, a Newfields resident, defended his record on the Executive Council and touted his strong working relationship with Democratic Gov. John Lynch during a meeting with the Foster's Editorial Board. He said the all-Republican council took a philosophical stance to promote fiscal discipline during his first term in office, but the council has worked in a nonpartisan way to advance the state's interests.

“At the end of the day, I will defend every vote I've ever taken,” Sununu said, adding, “I think we are tough. We're fair, but we're tough.”

Sununu was a political newcomer in 2010 when he challenged Democratic incumbent Beverly Hollingworth, of Hampton, for the District 3 seat. Sununu prevailed during an election year that saw conservative voters ousting well-established left-leaning veterans in favor of those running on a platform of fiscal constraint.

Discussing his relationship with Lynch, Sununu said the popular, four-term governor has called the Executive Council one of the best he's worked with. Sununu said councilors have taken seriously their obligation to vet state contracts, as evidenced by the number of split votes that have been rendered by the all-Republican council.

“I find (executive councilor) to be one of the most nonpartisan, or political, jobs you can have in state government,” he said.